No labor officials on Sunday shows this weekend?

By
Greg Sargent

I tend not to get into the business of questioning the guest choices made by the Sunday shows. But if there were ever a time the networks would want to book labor officials to appear, you'd think it would be now. The Wisconsin standoff is the most important domestic political story in the country right now, and as many commentators at those same networks have pointed out, both sides view this battle as ground zero in a national war that may determine the fate of organized labor in America.

But labor officials are beginning to fear that none of them will be invited on this weekend to give voice to the labor point of view. This, even as tough-talking anti-union governor Chris Christie is set to do a major appearance on CBS on Sunday.

One AFL-CIO official tells me that reps for the AFL-CIO and other unions reached out to all the big three network shows -- ABC's This Week, NBC's Meet the Press, and CBS' Face the Nation -- to ask if they would invite on any labor officials. Thus far the answer has been cool to indifferent, the official says.

No labor officials have yet been booked to appear. Carin Pratt, the executive producer of CBS's Face the Nation -- which is hosing Christie -- seemed to suggest as much in an email. "We are doing Gov. Christie for part of the show, with probably a segment on Libya," she said. "We're not only talking about labor."

Officials at NBC and ABC both told me their lineups were not yet complete, and wouldn't say any labor officials had been booked, though that could conceivably change.

Like I noted above, I tend not to see any point in questioning the Sunday lineups. But this moment somehow feels a bit different. There's a massive media lovefest underway over Christie, one that's hailing his role as the scourge of public employees everywhere. Not only is he appearing on Face the Nation, but a huge, 6600-word profile of Christie is set to appear in this Sunday's New York Times Magazine describing him as a "Republican superstar" who has found in public employees his very own "welfare queens."

But the big story right now is that public employees are proving not to be the easy scapegoat many conservative and neutral commentators expected them to be. While labor may well lose in Wisconsin, the important political story of the moment is that organized labor has surpised the political establishment with its show of force and its ability to mobilize, and could conceivably still win this standoff in a state where Republicans control the governorship and legislature. And the public is supporting the basic rights of public employees, not cheering on their foes.

It's very hard to generalize about such matters, but in this context, the basic priorities of the political media seem a bit off. At a minimum you'd think the intense public interest in Wisconsin would alone be enough to get the networks to invite labor officials on to talk about it.

UPDATE: Meet the Press has now agreed to host AFL-CIO chief Richard Trumka.

This situation isn't fitting the narrative they created for it and they haven't figured out the story they are going to tell.

This always happens, the MSM is generally a step behind. But if they say you're losing there's a good chance you'll win. This thing is going to be won on the ground and the victory itself, IMO, will be what creates lasting change. Meanwhile, the MSM is simply willing itself into irrelevancy by the laziness and lack of intellectual curiosity. They're waiting for the winners to tell them why they won; they're not looking to figure this stuff for themselves.

New Jersey is a test tube. The whole country is watching. If he succeeds as a politician, it will not be because of base politics, the "values voters" enraptured with his postures and poses. Same with Jerry Brown, Kitzhaber, etc., the D governors have to balance their budgets too. This is an important contest going on at the state level. Wisconsin is a data point now: one clear example of how not to do it.

Rhoda - I wish your theory was the right one, but I don't think that it is.

Labor isn't being asked to represent their side of the story because the media has already picked which side it favors, and the facts and stuff labor representatives would bring up would only muddy the waters and confuse the viewers as to who they should be supporting.

Don't worry I'm sure a far left Democrat like Harold Ford or Joe Lieberman will be asked to represent the labour side, where they can sadly intone how unions have lost their way and need to get with the program.

Atrios' line remains true: The range of acceptable opinion in the village is from the New Republic to the Free Republic.

"The American Petroleum Institute, the largest oil and gas industry trade group, will start backing political candidates this year as the U.S. considers repealing $46 billion in subsidies and imposing pollution rules.

The group, whose members include Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp., would make donations separately from industry executives and employees, who gave $27.6 million mostly to Republican candidates for Congress last year, according to the Center for Responsive Politics in Washington. API has paid for advertising on policy issues and to lobby on legislation.

“This is adding one more tool to our toolkit,” said Martin Durbin, API’s executive vice president for government affairs, in an interview. “At the end of the day, our mission is trying to influence the policy debate.”

The Obama administration is proposing to end tax breaks for energy companies and to limit greenhouse-gas emissions, actions the API says will cost jobs and cut domestic production as fuel costs rise. "

Expect George Wills to purse his Church Lady Lips and explain; If the Public School Teachers are not all made homeless, the State will not be able to cut taxes for the wealthy, give away Power Stations for a song, and still balance the state budget, so the teachers need to start picking out their new cardboard box homes now.

"It's very hard to generalize about such matters, but in this context, the basic priorities of the political media seem a bit off."

Seriously, Greg. This is the BEST you've got on this one? The biggest domestic political story for the last week and not a single representative of one of the sides is going to have a chance to talk to a national audience, while the otehr side is given the red carpet treatment...all on top of the fact that the public polls in the matter show the complete opposite of conventional wisdom...and you say they may be a "bit off"?

Come on, man. That's like saying Niagra Falls has a "slight drop", or that the Space Shuttle has "some kick", or that sbj is "mildly disengenuous", or that Michael Bay movies have "some action", or that Airplane! is "kind of funny".

Also, I have to ask...if you feel that labor's voice should be a part of this discussion, how about you do an interview or two with labor leaders. I know it's not the same as them getting on a Sunday talk show, but you still have a national audience under a fairly well known and respected banner.

Why doesn't anyone apply Occam's Razor to this question? The corporate media works for Corporate America. Why is it so hard to understand that they sell the corporate worldview? Corporate America wanted the Iraq War, the corporate media helped sell it. Corporate America wants to kill the unions, the corporate media sells it. Corporate America wanted deregulation and low taxes for the wealthy, the corporate media sold it. That's why so many get their journalism from comedy shows, rock magazines and the foreign press. Hillbillies get their news from the corporate media, and we all know how well informed they are....right?

Why does having Governor Teletubby on a show with no counterpart remind me of all the Iraq victory laps the Bush administration officials took in the spring of '03? Maybe they can plop him down in front of Koch Industries HQ in front of a big "Mission Accomplished" banner.

"There's a massive media lovefest underway over Christie, one that's hailing his role as the scourge of public employees everywhere. Not only is he appearing on Face the Nation, but a huge, 6600-word profile of Christie is set to appear in this Sunday's New York Times Magazine describing him as a "Republican superstar" who has found in public employees his very own "welfare queens.""

Here's a link to the New York Times Magazine piece since there isn't one in the original post:

Jerry Brown's approach to the struggle is lost in all of your mirror gazing. Just kidding of course, but this isn't about an exposure battle for talk shows. Labor doesn't necessarily want to get on the talk shows, did anyone ask? Sometimes less is more.

Overexposed Republicans are good at ruining their own political prospects, let them talk, it isn't as if they get it.

Anyway, the battle in Cali is hot and it is on...

"More than two-thirds of the Republicans in the Legislature form a 'taxpayer caucus' that pledges to block the governor's efforts to ask voters to extend for five years billions of dollars in taxes."

"Saudi King to discover 37 billion dollars for the poor, that he did not know he had, until now."
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If this was in the U.S., it would the GOP who discover how to take 37 billion dollars from the poor.

One does have to admit the audience of sunday morning shows is almost 100% Villagers, 100% of whom have no interest in hearing a union leader say anything other than approved neoliberal dogma, like say supporting deregulation or social security cuts.

But union leaders supporting unions? No, that would hurt sunday show ratings with their preferred audience.

Was he ignorant of the 37 billion or the poor? put me down for a little of both.

Posted by: NoVAHockey | February 24, 2011 3:34 PM

Fear of losing his mortgage probably forced him to sit down and take stock of his assets. There has been a lot of evictions taking place on his block lately.

I saw a news report last night, about Maria Carey having been paid one million dollars for singing just four songs, at a party for Qaddafi's two boys, and the previous year, Beyonce was paid two million, for performing for them.

That Mummar sure was one hell of a socialist revolutionary, wasn't he?

I think Rhoda is right about the facts not fitting the narrative of the MSM. Sure, there are more nefarious things at work, too, but let's not underestimate the laziness and lack of imagination of the chatters themselves. They're more than happy to repeat the same story in the same way over and over without regard to what the news actually is.

shrink, did you see my post last night that unbelievably 54% of CA voters approve of Brown's plan for 1/2 cuts and 1/2 extension of the tax increases? We don't have very many reasonable R's in the CA legislature, but hopefully a few will actually you know, let the voters decide. I'm expecting a real heat wave down here. I've got my marching shoes ready and a clean pair of socks.

The Sunday Talk Shows should book the CEO's from Koch Industries and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and ask them how happy they are about all their bought and paid for Republican Governors, Senators, and Representatives.

Thanks for bringing to national attention this glaring omission of labor's voice on the Sunday shows.

I tend to agree with BBQ and those who would say that the media is once again trying to create the narrative here, rather than objectively report both sides of the story. I don't believe it's a simple matter of the media trying to catch up to the story.

And you're right, the case in point is Gov. Christie. The media seems to be giving him a hefty push to the forefront. But he's not as popular in NJ as some would try to suggest. Not that long ago, NJ had the best public schools in the country, but the quality has been dropping fast, and their national rankings are slipping badly.

I'm hoping that these Republican governors have picked the wrong battle when it comes to trying to blame teachers for budget shortfalls. Few things make me quite as angry as these politicians trying to create the ruse that the economic issues in their states must be resolved on the backs of America's schoolchildren.

Thanks for the list. I wonder if we can also compile a list of places that carry their products, and companies that do business with Koch, so that we can pressure them to stop doing business with them, or also face a Boycott of their businesses.

No Ims sorry. Sometimes I can't keep up. But yes, the way the Oregon tax measure passed was by a vote of the people. Somehow, that makes people who take cuts feel better about contributing. Oregon doesn't matter, but California is the big fight. It will be interesting to see who not only balances the budgets, but does it in such a way that the state's economy perks.

"One AFL-CIO official tells me that reps for the AFL-CIO and other unions reached out to all the big three network shows -- ABC's This Week, NBC's Meet the Press, and CBS' Face the Nation -- to ask if they would invite on any labor officials. Thus far the answer has been cool to indifferent, the official says."

Media management sees labor as the enemy!!! They can't be trusted to do the right thing without a push from their readers and viewers.

"It's very hard to generalize about such matters, but in this context, the basic priorities of the political media seem a bit off. At a minimum you'd think the intense public interest in Wisconsin would alone be enough to get the networks to invite labor officials on to talk about it."

Greg, Perhaps it feels forceful to a WaPo blogger to say that the media is "a bit off." It doesn't sound all that forceful to me. ;)

Science guy, well yeah and this isn't really about AFL-CIO. The situation is good right now. The Republicans have dropped a tưrd in the punch bowl, a big fat floater and they have to explain why they did that.

After the publishing powerhouse Judith Regan was fired by HarperCollins in 2006, she claimed that a senior executive at its parent company, News Corporation, had encouraged her to lie to federal investigators two years before.

The investigators had been vetting Bernard B. Kerik, the former New York City police commissioner who had been nominated to become homeland security secretary and who had had an affair with Ms. Regan.

The goal of the News Corporation executive, according to Ms. Regan, was to keep the affair quiet and protect the then-nascent presidential aspirations of former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, Mr. Kerik’s mentor and supporter.

But Ms. Regan never revealed the identity of the executive, even as her allegation made headlines and she brought a wrongful termination suit against HarperCollins and News Corporation.

But now, affidavits filed in a separate lawsuit reveal the identity of the previously unnamed executive: Roger E. Ailes, chairman of Fox News.

What is more, the documents say that Ms. Regan taped the telephone call from Mr. Ailes in which Mr. Ailes discusses her relationship with Mr. Kerik.

It is unclear whether the existence of the tape played a role in News Corporation’s decision to move quickly to settle Ms. Regan’s lawsuit, paying her $10.75 million in a confidential settlement reached two months after she filed it in 2007.

Of course, if it were to become public, the tape could be highly embarrassing to Mr. Ailes, a onetime adviser to Richard Nixon whom critics deride as a partisan who engineers Fox News coverage to advance Republicans and damage Democrats, something Fox has long denied. Mr. Ailes also had close ties with Mr. Giuliani, whom he advised in his first mayoral race. Mr. Giuliani officiated at Mr. Ailes’s wedding and intervened on his behalf when the Fox News Channel was blocked from securing a cable station in the city.

In a statement released on Wednesday, a News Corporation spokeswoman did not deny that Mr. Ailes was the executive on the recording.

54% of CA likely voters approve of the 5 year extension of the tax increases. That will save half of our deficit, the other half will be cuts.

""New polling from the California Public Policy Institute: A surprising and heartening result, in light of Governor Brown’s rhetoric about tough choices and shared sacrifice. Staring down a state in dire fiscal crisis, Brown has proposed broad, painful spending cuts, as well as a special election to seek voter approval on a package of new taxes and fees. Say what you will about the strategy, but Brown’s candor and honesty about his cuts have been impressive, and it seems voters may reward him with that rarest of the rare: a voter approved tax increase.""

A huge share of the nation's economic growth over the past 30 years has gone to the top one-hundredth of one percent, who now make an average of $27 million per household. The average income for the bottom 90 percent of us? $31,244.
...............

Aren't radio and TV people in unions too? Maybe we should advocate to do away with their bargaining rights, in fact all their collective rights, and see how fast they get someone on their silly Sunday shows!

Ims, the stakes are so high. If the nation sees people voting for tax increases combined with cuts on the west coast...and it works... budget balanced, no baseball bats, unions intact and leaner, the rich star culture will not miss a single day of goofing off...the TP is moot. If California can balance its budget with Governor Moonbeam, who needs the nasty Republicans?

A huge share of the nation's economic growth over the past 30 years has gone to the top one-hundredth of one percent, who now make an average of $27 million per household. The average income for the bottom 90 percent of us? $31,244.
...............

"When you talk about rabbis," Beck said, "understand that most -- most people who are not Jewish don't understand that there are the Orthodox rabbis, and then there are the Reformed rabbis."

"""Reformed rabbis are generally political in nature. It's almost like Islam, radicalized Islam in a way, to where it is just -- radicalized Islam is less about religion than it is about politics. When you look at the Reform Judaism, it is more about politics."""

Brown’s candor and honesty about his cuts have been impressive, and it seems voters may reward him with that rarest of the rare: a voter approved tax increase.
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Jerry Brown has many talents, but chief among them is his credibility. My own reaction was positive when he described his approach, and I am more like the typical Californian than not. I'm not surprised that the voters are positive toward a tax increase because Brown delivered the message. California has the right leader at the right time. Thank God.

If he goes after the unions and their benefits, he will be believed. When someone has to deliver bad news, we all want it to be someone who cares about us. Not someone who has megalomaniacal ambitions like Walker or someone who doesn't like people like Whitman.

"Iran's intelligence minister says authorities have arrested an Iranian that he says was working for the CIA."

Iran is trying to out stupid Gaddafi in the opinion of the world. OT but I just can't feel totally and completely sorry for the people of Iran. Now they know and there is nothing they can do about it but die by the thousands. But their theocracy was something they thought was a great thing back in the day, when they had a choice.

Shrink2: The American Conservative magazine described Jerry Brown in 1975 as more fiscally conservative than Reagan. He opposed oil and millionaire tax breaks, and supported the balanced budget amendment. He came into office and ended his tenure with one of the largest budget surpluses in CA history. He drove a modest car, lived in a modest home. He supported laws protecting the environment, increased money given to the arts, and appointed more women and minorities to his office as well as to the courts, than any other CA gov before him.

Now you may want to make fun of him, but I worked on his Presidential campaign in 1976 when I was 20 years old. I still find him refreshing, though I have never lived in CA. It is Christie and Cuomo who are copying him, and not the other way around!

In the battle of who's winning the "Shut down the Government" narrative:

"Senate Democrats Meet To Find More Cuts For Long-Term Funding Deal With GOP

WASHINGTON - Democratic leadership and Appropriations Committee staffers are meeting Thursday afternoon to find ways to cut social spending from the remainder of the fiscal year 2011 budget, a Senate Democratic aide told HuffPost. The object of the gathering is to identify cuts that will satisfy House Republicans' demands for drastic spending reductions despite the flagging economy.

Multiple leadership aides, however, said that the cuts will be made to a long-term budget resolution, rather than a short-term spending bill, as Republicans insist. That the two parties are now arguing merely over how quickly to make cuts indicates that their positions may be drawing close enough to avoid a government shutdown - without the GOP giving much up yet.

"It sounds like Senate Democrats are making progress towards our goal of cutting government spending to help the private sector create jobs," said Michael Steel, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio). "Hopefully, that means they will support the short-term CR with spending cuts that we will pass next week, rather than shutting down the government."

so let's see here, the liberals are complimenting Jerry Brown for raising taxes to pay for the mistake he made lo these many years ago.

After all it was Govenor Moonbeams who first let the unions into the state government. In 1978 Govenor Moonbeam signed into law a bill that allowed civil servants to bargain collectively.

Now he has to face the monster he created. The liberals here are applauding because they think Mr Brown will solve the problem by extracting more money from the citizens.

Given the flight out of the state already, a tax hike will motivate ever more productive people to leave the state. The people in the surrounding states should take a page from Govenor Christie and stand at the CA border, inviting the fleeing taxpayers to settle in their state.

At some point CA will be left with hollywood "stars" and tax recievers.

Hey, surf's up. I hear that there are peeling outside lefts at PB. But you don't know unless you go.

So true regarding the bad news, we already talked about the cuts to the programs we both love. We'll deal with it and hopefully come out leaner and meaner and then rebuild when the tax base comes back. That's the best we can do with what we've got to work with. I still think our biggest problem here though is the foreclosure mess and am not sure how long it's going to take to work through all that inventory and heartache.

Lemme guess, the bottom 90% didn't "pull themselves up by their bootstraps enough"...

Posted by: ChuckinDenton | February 24, 2011 4:26 PM |

............................

I think the real problem is that too many American babies have opted to be born into poor families, when they had ever chance to opt to be born A Bush, A Koch, or the child of some other billionaire. Those fetuses better start making wiser family choices, before they come into the world. It is never too early for stem cells to make the right career decisions.

Just so you know I've give up having a conversation with you, I'm sure you're heartbroken, the insults don't leave much room for debate, sort of like carrying a concealed weapon concedes your superiority.

Christie is a fraud,who right now is in the midst of his 15 minutes of fame. He'll flame out the same way as Palin has, and eventually will be relegated to appearing in a Sopranos look a like contest. Any guy who expects people to believe that state employee unions (e.g. middle class people) are destroying the middle class needs a brain scan. What the hell are they Chris - cannibals?

Why would the MSM Sunday talking heads want guys like Trumka on, with all that icky oil and dirt under his fingernails and all. He's not one of "us." There is a reason why David Gregory's show is referred to as "Press the Meat." These shows are just a political interview version of a DC garden party, just friends talking, sans the cocktails.

No and yes. The messenger matters, obviously. Reagan is a beatified Republican, right? What if Nixon had invoked the only book in the Bible that is just, well, plainly psychotic and spoken of America as a shining city on a hill? What if Jimmy Carter had tried to get elected on slogans like Hope and Change and One Vote Can Change the World?

"Christie is a fraud,who right now is in the midst of his 15 minutes of fame."

This is the question. Will people like Christie and Scott in Florida beat the Ds on the West Coast? What measures will bring the states forward, out of the foreclosure crisis, into sustainable job growth? [I don't mess with Texas, they are in their own world]

@filmnoia "Christie is a fraud,who right now is in the midst of his 15 minutes of fame. He'll flame out the same way as Palin has, and eventually will be relegated to appearing in a Sopranos look a like contest. Any guy who expects people to believe that state employee unions (e.g. middle class people) are destroying the middle class needs a brain scan. What the hell are they Chris - cannibals?"

In the NJ Teachers Unions, Christie has managed to find the perfect foil for his narrative:

"Perhaps the most consequential episode between Christie and the union, at least as far as public perception was concerned, had to do with the pay freeze. Almost as soon as the scope of the budget problem became clear, the governor called on teachers, who received scheduled raises during the recession, to accept a one-year freeze. He reminded the teachers that a lot of private-sector workers felt lucky if they could keep their current salaries, and he said a voluntary freeze would enable the union to avoid widespread teacher layoffs in cash-poor school districts. Most local chapters of the union ignored him. Ultimately some 10,000 union members — teachers and support staff — saw their jobs eliminated. Christie hasn’t stopped talking about it since.

The union maintains that Christie’s plea was mere gimmickry, because the layoffs would have happened even if its local chapters acceded to the demand for a freeze. But even if this is true, it would seem to reflect a staggering lack of political calculation. Had the teachers agreed to take the short-term hit by acquiescing to a temporary freeze, it would have been worlds harder for Christie to then run around the state demanding longer-term concessions on pensions and benefits. And when the layoffs did materialize, the governor would most likely have shouldered most of the blame. Instead, the whole affair seemed to prove Christie’s point about the union’s self-involvement, and it enabled him to blame the teachers themselves for the layoffs.

During our conversation at the Hay-Adams, I suggested to Christie that the teachers had given him a valuable political gift by refusing to compromise. “I don’t look at it as a gift to me,” he replied. “I look at it as a huge mistake by them, and also a window into who they are.

“Let’s assume that they’re smart, because I think they are,” he went on. “So then, why don’t you do it? Because they believe they are entitled to it. They believe they are special and different and that they shouldn’t have to share the sacrifice. And that’s, I think, what’s ultimately driving public opinion against them.” "

"What if Nixon had invoked the only book in the Bible that is just, well, plainly psychotic and spoken of America as a shining city on a hill? What if Jimmy Carter had tried to get elected on slogans like Hope and Change and One Vote Can Change the World?"

Those are all platitudes. Hope and Change moved certainly inspired a lot of people, but what that means is still user-defined.

As of 15 years ago when I exited 'the bidness', 'on-air talent', that is the roundtable panalists and host(s), had to be members of (then) AFTRA (American Federation of Radio & Television Artists)...As such, they each recieved a 'talent fee'...
I wonder if this 'tradition' continues and if it doesn't I'd like to know what happened.

We are talking about Americans being told bad news and that they are going to have to accept bad news and that the people they blame for causing the bad news may not get punished enough.

That message has to be sold. Obama knows that, he gave an interview a couple years ago that was amazing in this regard. I can't remember to whom or when, but he was saying something we all know. Sharing pain is a lot harder than sharing success, killing the messenger is what the first responders do.

what are the Koch bros scared of. instead of glorifying chris christie as the darling of the GOP we need to hear both sides of this issue. the voices should not be silenced.. public polling shows the public is in favor of what is happen in WI. I'm a little tired of Republicans calling for an "adult conversation" that mainly takes things away from adults who don't vote Republican

I'm a little tired of Republicans calling for an "adult conversation" that mainly takes things away from adults who don't vote Republican. i'm tired of seeing chris christy on tv.. this iisue is too impotant for the major sunday shows to ignore without the side being heard.. what are the koch bros afraid of

Yeah, yeah. Should I feel terrible that I give back what I get every day lms?

Read the lies that liam posts about me routinely?

I don't mean to be insulting though. I mean to be contemptuous. Perhaps my expressions of disdain are going awry. It is completely possible.

And I never said I carried a concealed weapon. I said that I live in a concealed carry state.

One of the things I notice about most liberals is that they are bigots. They have an image of their enemy and will assume that every one that disagrees with them fits that image. That's just plain old bigotry. Something I see routinely: statements that are so bigoted that if I substituted the word "black" or "latino" for "right wing nut job" the liberals would have apoplexy.

there is not much one can do about such bigotry. So I have fun with it. I make leading statements such as "I live in a concealed carry state" and let the bigots fill in the blanks. It is vastly amusing and it works just about every time.

Still my statement about Brown remains true. He signed the legislation that legalized collective bargaining for state employees. And the state employees in CA did what state employees do everywhere: they used their dues to buy the legislature so that they could rape the taxpayers.

Now Mr Brown has the enviable job of solving a crisis he created. I will be curious to see what weasel words he uses.

I miss CA. I enjoyed my time there. But it is just about as inhospitable now as a state can be. Look for the state to lose even more house seats in the next ten years.

this is on display in state capitals across the midwest:
"Because they believe they are entitled to it. They believe they are special and different and that they shouldn’t have to share the sacrifice. And that’s, I think, what’s ultimately driving public opinion against them.” "

They do think they are entitled to it. The behavior of the unions in Madison alone proves this. How dare a broke state ask for a different deal?

The Democrats must have known that the unions were going to be hit hard in WI. That explains their behavior: first they tried a cram down in the lame duck, including the need to get one of the legislators out of jail, then they fled when the heat was on.

This will have repercussions in 2012. The republicans will make hay of this situation and Obama's involvement in it.

It's your choice if you want to wallow with the flame throwers on either side and at the same time turn off those of us with at least a modicum of respect for differing opinions. And I know what you said re concealed weapon, the intimidation was implied.

I hope you're wrong about CA, I'm sure I'll die here, hopefully not anytime in the near future though, but I'd like to see us stage a comeback first. And we run a business here, quite successfully I might add, and don't find it inhospitable in the least.

Too funny. I don't expect much from liberals anymore Liam. I figure that any group that welcomes you can't have much on the ball anyway. Like it or not, people are judged by the company they keep. Folks that keep company with you can't be all that impressive.

I don't care what you think of me anyway. Why would any rational person give a hoot what you or folks like ronnieandrush think of them?

Oh and thanks for proving the point that I made to lms: liberals are bigots. Your "hater" nonsense is a perfect example of that.

It has occurred as I've read the comments about AFTRA that perhaps the networks think they can exclude union voices from the Sunday morning talk shows because they know that a huge collection of very famous union members will be dominating the global airwaves on Sunday evening? Everyone at the Oscars is a card-carrying, dues-paying member of at least one union.

There are at least 62 different entertainment industry unions, and everyone knows that no one works in Hollywood or on Broadway without being in a union. It will be interesting to see if anyone at the Oscars mentions that fact, but I can just see the network executives squirming over that possiblity. Haha!

"One of the things I notice about most liberals is that they are bigots. They have an image of their enemy and will assume that every one that disagrees with them fits that image. That's just plain old bigotry"

Then four posts later:

"Like it or not, people are judged by the company they keep. Folks that keep company with you can't be all that impressive."

All you have to do is post a comment right here on Plum Line responding to Glenn Beck's comments:

"""Reformed rabbis are generally political in nature. It's almost like Islam, radicalized Islam in a way, to where it is just -- radicalized Islam is less about religion than it is about politics. When you look at the Reform Judaism, it is more about politics."""

Go ahead.

And by the way, I am a Reform Jew and I find his comments to be bigoted. Abe Foxman is a politically conservative Jew and he said this: "Glenn Beck's comparison of Reform Judaism to radical Islam demonstrates his bigoted ignorance."

Maybe the Sunday talk show should have a moral philosopher on and question him as to why (1) workers who now work for corporations that took away their pensions and HC benefits are "against" public workers who still have collective bargaining; and (2) why retired baby boomers who worked for unionized public agencies and/or have pensions from unionized private businesses, plus SSN and Medicare...are also "against" these public workers in WI? These folks need to be called out for their hypocrisy and jealousy; the former should be fighting those corporations who took away their benefits....

The beltway bubbleheads consider harold Ford to be a leftie! anyone left of him is seen as fringe so, that leaves out all democrats.
However, fringe righties are to be drooled over,
They swoon for the tea party but, look down on the protesters in the states fighting for their rights.
outside of the few night programs on MSNBC, the fake Koch call to Walker was largely swept away,
The glaring double standard is sickening.

"This situation isn't fitting the narrative they created for it and they haven't figured out the story they are going to tell."

Yup. Their problem is that the people in the media make a lot of money compared to most Americans. They hobnob with much more wealthy and powerful people than most Americans. And especially in Washington DC, they are living in the middle of a very strong and coordinated right-wing effort to demonize unions.

Their personal sense of what "real Americans" think about unions is DEAD WRONG. And this is why they're blowing the story. They think their well-off colleagues and right-wing think tanks reflect some sort of mainstream opinion. They simply don't.

Unions have been the most consistent and powerful voice for the middle class and lower class for 50 years. Reporters have no understanding of this, or why it's so threatening to the people who have benefited greatly from massive increases in income inequality.

I am so angry with these union people and there entitlements. Everybody knows union workers are friggin useless and lazy because they can't be fired or anything. Why do we have to put up with them anymore? That's why we elected Republicans to get rid of these leaching scumbags. Now somebody's pretending that getting rid of these unions isn't what people really want! But it IS what we really want. We really, really want unions to go away. They are sucking the lifeblood out of our country for all kinds of pay and benefits they don't deserve. Guess what?, my grandchildren don't want to pay the bills for your luxurious retirement pensions! These AWOL democrat legislators are breaking our laws all over America. They should be rounded up and thrown into a very dark hole for the rest of there lives (at least). The democratic party is now the socialist party and should be banned from the US. Let's stop pretending like it's just big business that wants to get rid of unions. We don't need them and we never did. The American people have spoken and they are saying loud and clear GET RID OF THE UNIONS. Hear it? or are you deaf?

Once again, it is the MYTH about "mainstream media liberal bias". What a load. This is the same media who, in their excitement to be embedded with US Troops, utterly ignored the lies and incompetence in the run-up to the Iraq war, never questioned anything that was fed to them until about 8 years later and even now seldom confront people like Rumsfeld about their proven, verifiable untruths.................the only thing worse than a biased media is a LAZY media and we have got it in spades.

.......I find the right wing public's penchant for avoiding a rational argument, instead calling the union, "scumbags, deadbeats, leeches, socialists, freeloaders, etc" to only be an apt demonstration on how far from any sort of intelligent discourse they can present to the public. This sort of pro wrestling mentality only points to the ignorance, xenophobia, racism and selfish interest they have for themselves--and their wealthy masters who have them hoodwinked into thinking the corporations, land rapers, charlatans and fascists are looking out for their better interests. Suckers.

One of the things I notice about most conservatives is that they are ignorant at best, or liars at worst, the latter most likely being more accurate. Public employee unions, such as AFSCME, of which I am a part of (38,000 workers in Minnesota) CANNOT, by international rules use union dues for political funding. We ask members if they want to contribute to political action to sign a separate pledge to deduct for that. Try researching a little before spouting off Beck's talking points like facts.

Also, if one uber rich conservative set of brothers can influence an entire political system in a state, why can't 50,000 middle class workers have a say in it too?

It is okay for corporations to lobby our politicians, but middle class citizens shouldn't be allowed to?

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